Buying vs. mixing salt water

[ninjamini]

The story:
I have always bought my salt water. The reason is cost and connivence. I can buy a gallon of salt water for $.50 vs. $.50 for RO and about $.40 for the salt to mix in. Also if I need to lug home the RO water anyway I might as well lug salt water.
The salt water I have always bought was hauled in from off shore. I have always had good success with this water. Tests out good and the salt is always at 1.023. Nice and consistent. The only question with getting water from the ocean is that it might have contaminate or bacteria.
I recently found a store, Big Als here in S. Florida, that mixes there own salt water. I figured this had to be better because there would be no impurities. Well I brought home 40 gallons of the stuff and its salt level was 1.017. Too low to use. I had to add salt. Darned annoying.
The question:
So what do you do buy it or make it? Why? What does it cost you per gallon? If you make your own RO/DI what did that cost for set up and maintenance (you have to replace those filters).

 

[praisethel]

I mix up my own. I buy the fresh RO water from the store for .35 a gallon, then mix in tropic marin pro reef salt. It seems to be cost effective. I have a ton of orange home depot buckets. I would like my own RO systme one day......
Just my .02

 

[gsd]

Having your own RODI is hands above the best way if your intent on having a decent tank without having to fight nutrient issues and algae etc. The larger the container of salt the cheaper it is per gal to make. Its nice to have the capability to make your own saltwater as sooner or later your gonna need it and the lfs is gonna be closed.......All it takes is a power head and heater, and a suitable container, to suit the needs of amount of water usually required. Contrary to what Lot of folks say you can get a decent and good RODI unit for about $120 including S & H. Filters are replaced on average once a year, membranes last 3 to 5 years on average. If yu use more than a few gal of top off water a week and do regular water changes it will not take long to pay off the initial purchase price of the unit.
I bought a case of each filter as it amounted to an overall cost of approx 1/3 the amount it would have run if I bought them as I needed them......

 

[cool99bomb]

I just buy it. Because I tryed doing it my self and it was VERY VERY VERY percise. Plus I forgot to add more alkalinity.

 

[velvetchs]

We were purchasing RO salt from our lfs. It cost us $1/gal. However, we were having nitrate issues (they were at 160ppm+). We stopped buying it from that lfs, got our own RO/DI unit off of the auction site and since then have gotten our nitrates to under 20ppm.
It is very nice having the ability to make the water as needed, rather than having to go to the lfs every time a water change is done. It costs us about the same to make the salt water than purchase it (However, we don't pay for our water as we live in an apartment) and that includes factoring in cost of our RO/DI unit, salt, and time to mix it. I am very glad we decided to do buy our own unit.

 

[oreo12]

Most stores sell you the water from there water changes wach out. Mix your own buy an ro filter it will pay for itself in no time

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by oreo12
Most stores sell you the water from there water changes wach out. Mix your own buy an ro filter it will pay for itself in no time
OK Lets look at the cost of an RO/DI system. a good quality one if about $200. Yes I red the above post that you can get one for $120. But I question the quality of the system and the source of the sale. Sorry GSD. Lets say that replacement filters cost $100 (3x$30) per year.
$200 for the RO/DI at 50 cents / gallon (the norm) for salt or RO/DI water. yealds 400 gallons required to break even per year (Note that this does not yet include the cost of salt). That is an average of 34 gallons required per month to break even on the cost of the ro/di vs buying. Thats a 1 gallon top off per day... Yea I do that on my 55. It may increase since I got my 90.
Now include the cost of salt. At 25 cents per gallon for salt. and a 10% water change every other week. Thats 20 gallons per month or $5 for salt/month.
Conclusion:
Is it worth it? It looks like its a close wash. I'd say that the 65 gallon is probably the break even point. However you have to factor in the what if of the system breaking. I's say that if you have a 90 or above its probably worth it. You decide.

 

[rcdude1990]

i bought nurti sea water for my first water change it was 12 dollars for a 5 gallon jug
i poured 2 gallons into a bucket and tested the salinity it was like 1.029
so i jus filled the rest with freshwater and i did my water change
i still have half a jug to go so figure 6 dollars per water change

 

[oreo12]

Well I bought an ro filter 2 stage off the great action site for 75.00 I have no hair allage and the corals are growing great so it must be doing its job without it and just the tap water I had lots of hair alage. I buy a 200 gal bucket of oceanonc salt for 40.00 and I change 15gals of water a week. I asked a local pet shop how much they wanted for premade water and He said he was out but would have some on wensday after they did there water change. I asked sevreal other shops around and they told me the same that they sale there water change water even going as far as telling me it was beter because it was agged and had the bactira in I needed.

 

[rykna]

This is the main reason why I DO NOT buy RO water or any such water from the stores. The water that was sold to me was suppose to be a perfect 1.025. I was a fool and I trusted the store. I almost lost my entire tank. Hardly 5minutes past from adding the store water, when I checkedmy tank...everything in the tank was writhing in pain. When I did a salinity check it was off the scale. The star was curled up in a ball writhing in pain...she was thrashing around so much she cut herself on a live rock....the gash was huge....she never recovered. The rest of the tank suvived. sigh.....live and learn.
I think that is one reason why my inverts and stars do well in my tank. I get an overlaod of nutrients because I use tap water. But I pay for it because I a constantly on algae clean up duty. But if it keeps my animals healthy and happy I am happy to do extra scrubbing!

 

[acrylic51]

Why oh Why would you want to entrust your water quality to anyone, but yourself?????

:scared: :thinking: When you stop and think about it your not saving any money or time.......You have the expense of gas, time, muscle and wear and tear on your vehicle and the "not knowing" what your actually getting as you've seen. What if the store is closed for whatever unkown reason? or you develop a need at an odd time for an emergency water change????? Your SOL...............How do you know if the store is keeping up with the maintenance of their units as they should?
I built a 6 stage 75gpd RO/DI unit, with dual TDS to monitor incoming and outgoing water quality. The unit also features a booster pump with prefilter and regulator as well as fast flush system and gallonage gauge that can be reset to check gallonage out of unit.......Honestly when you factor in all your time and such your not saving any money.....The unit price might seem high, but it will pay for itself shortly.....Email me and I'll break down the parts needed to build a nice unit, and give you all the part numbers and contact need to build the unit.......I'd put my RO/DI unit up against the stores anyday........

 

[mpls man]

i've been making my own salt water for over 3 years , i have my own ro/di filter, that way i can get the right ph and salinity every time, and i dont have to go any farther then the basement. filters i replace about one time a yr. for the waste water from the ro filter i fill up the wash mach and water the plants with no problem. imop it's worth it.

 

[mpls man]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
Why oh Why would you want to entrust your water quality to anyone, but yourself?????

:scared: :thinking: When you stop and think about it your not saving any money or time.......You have the expense of gas, time, muscle and wear and tear on your vehicle and the "not knowing" what your actually getting as you've seen. What if the store is closed for whatever unkown reason? or you develop a need at an odd time for an emergency water change????? Your SOL...............How do you know if the store is keeping up with the maintenance of their units as they should?
I built a 6 stage 75gpd RO/DI unit, with dual TDS to monitor incoming and outgoing water quality. The unit also features a booster pump with prefilter and regulator as well as fast flush system and gallonage gauge that can be reset to check gallonage out of unit.......Honestly when you factor in all your time and such your not saving any money.....The unit price might seem high, but it will pay for itself shortly.....Email me and I'll break down the parts needed to build a nice unit, and give you all the part numbers and contact need to build the unit.......I'd put my RO/DI unit up against the stores anyday........
when you say you have a fast flush how does thet work and how often do you have to do that? is that something i can make? is that good for the ro/di filter. thanks

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by MPLS MAN
i've been making my own salt water for over 3 years , i have my own ro/di filter, that way i can get the right ph and salinity every time, and i dont have to go any farther then the basement. filters i replace about one time a yr. for the waste water from the ro filter i fill up the wash mach and water the plants with no problem. imop it's worth it.

What do those filters cost you each year?

 

[qreef]

The salt water I have always bought was hauled in from off shore...same here
b4 you buy salt water from store that get from ocean you need to check out this site for reports on water quality.
http://www.floridamarine.org/feature...le.asp?id=8939
I like ocean water better then the mixed salt. I only own a RO unit just for the topoff and it cost $150 for the unit and filter replacement about $40 a year.

 

[colourmop]

mix my own, so i can do water change whenever i like (or ffor emergency) and it is fun to mix your own salt water (only fun for small tanks)

 

[dragonboy]

I buy my RO water from a water center and its a lot cheaper because they allow you to deposit money the larger the amount the cheaper the water. Normally its 20 cent a gallon but since I deposit 30 bucks I get it for 13 cents a gallon. I get water from my home use every other week anyhow so I don't really waste much on gas since its so close by like 1 block away. So I basically buy my own salt and mix it I don't really trust the Fish stores you never know where that water is coming from. In reality you don't really save on saltwater its necessity for your tank and you just have to find the best source that suits your tank needs. So for some RO is better solution and some just buying water is easier for them. Majority of the time people just are lazy or don't got the time to mix the water so they just buy the water premix.

 

[xdave]

I'd but actual ocean water if I could get it here. The bacteria is easy to kill. Store it with no light for 2 weeks and all the bacteria will die.

 

[dogstar]

For keeping a small tanks, it may be best to just buy all your water at a LFS whae needed. But for larger tanks, much more cheaper and easier to have your own filters and mix yourself. Not just water changes to think about. I top off with 5g of fresh every other day almost and to run to store for that would make me quit the hobby.

 

[spartanph]

Originally Posted by acrylic51
Why oh Why would you want to entrust your water quality to anyone, but yourself?????

:scared: :thinking: When you stop and think about it your not saving any money or time.......You have the expense of gas, time, muscle and wear and tear on your vehicle and the "not knowing" what your actually getting as you've seen. What if the store is closed for whatever unkown reason? or you develop a need at an odd time for an emergency water change????? Your SOL...............How do you know if the store is keeping up with the maintenance of their units as they should?
I built a 6 stage 75gpd RO/DI unit, with dual TDS to monitor incoming and outgoing water quality. The unit also features a booster pump with prefilter and regulator as well as fast flush system and gallonage gauge that can be reset to check gallonage out of unit.......Honestly when you factor in all your time and such your not saving any money.....The unit price might seem high, but it will pay for itself shortly.....Email me and I'll break down the parts needed to build a nice unit, and give you all the part numbers and contact need to build the unit.......I'd put my RO/DI unit up against the stores anyday........

I'd really be interested in this parts list. Tried to email you through the site but it wouldn't let me. Any chance you can post it?